grieving for the slow and miserable death of the Hubble Space Telescope.

possibly possessed of supernatural powers.

not in the business of total world domination

committed to the constant and diligent presentation of science stories, be it to editors, producers, directors, educators, relatives and/or friends of various ilk, in an effort to lessen the gap that is this thing we call public scientific literacy.

Speaking of badges, the ones I've "earned" are below the fold. I also suggested a few - they're marked "JL" on the SSOERAAAP site.

The "talking science" badge.

The "I blog about science" badge.

The "inappropriate nocturnal use of lab equipment in the name of alternative science experimentation / communication" badge.

The "destroyer of quackery" badge.

The "sexing up science" badge

The "I can be a prick when it comes to science" badge.

The "I left the respectable sciences to pursue humanistic studies of the sciences" badge.

The "has frozen stuff just to see what happens" badge (LEVEL I, II & III)

The "knows how to harvest horse pituitary glands" badge.

The "I know what a tadpole is" badge.

The "I'm a scientist who is fundamentally opposed to administrative duties" badge.

The "have used a dental drill and I've never been a dentist" badge

Wander over to SCQ and checkout the rest of the badges (I don't qualify for all of them).

More like this

If you want to join make sure you are:
- not opposed to alcohol.
- fond of IPCC reports (especially the pictures).
- mostly in agreement with the "truth."
- into badges.
- grieving for the slow and miserable death of the Hubble Space Telescope.
- possibly possessed of supernatural powers.
- not in…

Yes, I was never a member of Boy Scouts (no such thing in Yugoslavia, of course), but I will gladly join the Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique, the brand new organization founded by the folks of World's Fair and the Science Creative Quarterly. Steve of…

You may recall a couple years ago when the Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique started issuing badges.
Now, the Science Scouts have a spiffy new webpage and many new badges ... and there are rumors (or should I say rumours) that actual, physical badges,…

To kick off the new badge "I'm a marine biologist and, to be honest, I kind of hate dolphins", Science Creative Quarterly has published an article about the realities of being a marine biologist. Milton states it clearly. Just be honest with yourself. If you want to talk to dolphins you don't…

Above average physique? No metric is specified, so why not mass? Works for me.

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(I was originally going to hold off posting this until May 31st, but there seems little point)
I've been blogging here at Scienceblogs since January 2006, nearly three and a half years. During that time I have made many good friends - both fellow bloggers and readers - and have enjoyed the support…

From a report released by BIO: The Biotechnology Industry Organization:
On average, only 28% of the high school students taking the ACT , which is a national standardized test for college admission , reached a score indicating college readiness for biology and no state reached even 50%.
Only 52% of…

NCSE has announced that two remaining anti-evolution bills have died in committee: Alabama & Missouri.
To recap the year:
Mississippi - dead in committee
Oklahoma - dead in committee
Iowa - dead in committee
New Mexico - dead in committee
Florida - dead in committee
Alabama - dead in committee…

So I'm trying to simplify things in real life as I think I am suffering from information overload (among other things).
First task was to clean up my Facebook friends. From here on, it's family, colleagues and (usually graduate) students. Folks I know only in virtual space are likely to have gotten…

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"[The black hole] teaches us that space can be crumpled like a piece of paper into an infinitesimal dot, that time can be extinguished like a blown-out flame, and that the laws of physics that we regard as 'sacred,' as immutable, are anything but."
-John A. Wheeler
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Vertical agitation meets shame in Fish2Fork, a new seafood conservation effort led by Charles Clover (author of End of the Line), which seeks to highlight which restaurants are best and worst when it comes to the seafood they sell. The focus on restaurants is a great move and I particularly like how Fish2Fork highlights the 'top 10' and 'bottom 10' restaurants.
As a quibble, I wish the "We say…

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” -Carl Sagan
For thousands of years, humanity has looked up at the night sky and wondered at what might be out there. For the first time in all of our history, we not only have the answers to what's present in the Universe, we not only know the nature of most objects we see (and infer), but we even have…